"It's very sweet."

"I'm glad you think so!" Because it means! He! Won't! Leave!!!!

More kisses probably now. And then they should go to bed.

They're going to bed togeeeeether and Jaeha will get the best boyfriend awaaaaardddddd~

(...probably. It probably means he will. Do that.)

Three days later they want Haru for a boggy dungeon full of boggy monsters that lurk under the water and leap out in toothy ambush when they detect somebody tromping through the sludge. It's got a relatively gentle psychic effect: it's not lit inside, which is itself a little unusual, and if you turn on a light in there, you wind up with a blindsight effect, where you can "guess" where every illuminated thing is and what it's doing but report a sensation of utter darkness. So he's going to be flying a lot again, and he's going to be psychically making his flashlight work, and also presumably the swamp monsters have some interesting sensory loadout if they can tell who's in their bog when there's no light in the place and they're doing it from underwater.

So for this one he wants Jaeha parked outside the dungeon for a check-in and a kiss or three between rescues.

...right. Yes. He will definitely be there. His Haru cannot almost-die again.

His heart can't handle it.

Haru copes fine with this dungeon! The little breaks do help but the psychic darkness thing presses only lightly, somebody has brought in a bunch of wooden boards that he can walk on to spare some of the flying, and none of the rescuees say anything stupid, possibly because this dungeon appeared in Malaysia and they mostly do not share a language with their hero, which Haru finds frustrating but not crazymaking. In and out and check-in. In and out and check-in.

And meanwhile Jaeha is... scrupulously ethical. They're in Malaysia, and it is actually illegal to be gay in Malaysia, and his Haru is still being gay at him because what are they going to do, let their people die in dungeons because they're squeamish about the people with superpowers who showed up to help kissing? If they try Jaeha will destroy them utterly, but they're not trying, they're not trying at all, which means that he's not listening to anything they're feeling. He's being scrupulously ethical and he is not listening at all even though they could be planning something or being threatening, or, but they're not doing anything. They're not, they're just, they're just looking. The locals are giving Haru and him looks, disgusted looks, horrified looks, and he is being scrupulously ethical about it.

Being heroic and scrupulously ethical around people who kind of suck is a GREAT way to feel superior and smug and cool. It takes a middling person to save the thankful and innocent but an AMAZING one to save the irritating and ungrateful.

Maybe if he could hear a little bit of Haru's feelings he'd be able to share in that joy but all he can do is chew on nicotine gum and try to keep his face composed.

(Except when Haru shows up because then his worry and anger take a backseat to ✨Haru✨.)

Haru does actually catch him side-eyeing a Malaysian at one point and lets on about the secret to his smugness.

...okay yeah he can see it. Still... not inhabit it well enough, without feeling the feeling to mimic it, but...

...does contempt work? Contempt probably does not work. Hmmm. He'll workshop it.

"That's just me, I'm weird, but try not to let 'em get to you. I am going to save them and they will have lots of time in which to improve as people, or alternately to not do that and still be aware that they were rescued by an openly gay esper." Smooch and he's diving back into the portal.

He's got the best Haru.

(...fuck.)

The dungeon was fortunately not all that hungry, as dungeons go. They get everybody out and find the core and slay it.

Yeah. They should go home. Away from these people who think they're dirty and sinful and horrible. He's had enough of that from his family.

Mini-breaks left him less backlashed than he usually is after a dungeon but on net not less inclined to jump Jaeha's bones.

...yeah okay he's going to be dirty and sinful and delightful instead. He's going to be sinning so much with Haru.

Haru would debate this choice of words if it were spoken out loud but Jaeha's got better things to do with his mouth.

Yes. He does.

yoo-min-max: @traceless bro you're on the Malaysian news with @KangJaeha
yoo-min-max: y'all were too gay in public
yoo-min-max: it's a scandal
yoo-min-max: lmao

taegun fan no. 1183: get rekt malaysia

yoo-min-max: preach

🔔traceless: they invited me! it is on my work profile that I have this protocol now for dungeons that are going to be hitting me in the brain a lot! they should write to their elected representatives or something.